Modular battery assembly for battery powered equipment

ABSTRACT

A battery assembly including a battery pack having a battery pack housing, an upper modular housing portion coupled to the battery pack housing positioned at a first end of the battery pack housing, a lower modular housing portion coupled to the battery pack housing positioned at a second end of the battery pack housing, and a handle formed as part of the upper modular housing portion. The battery assembly further includes multiple battery cells disposed within the battery pack housing, a mating feature including multiple ports electrically connected to the multiple battery cells and structured to supply power from the multiple battery cells through the ports and is structured to selectively connect the battery assembly with a receptacle of at least one of a piece of power equipment and a charging station. The mating feature is located on the first modular housing portion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 62/667,209,filed May 4, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to the field of indoor andoutdoor power equipment, and in particular, to the field of batterypowered indoor and outdoor power equipment.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the invention relates to a battery assembly. Thebattery assembly includes a battery pack having a battery pack housing,an upper modular housing portion coupled to the battery pack housingpositioned at a first end of the battery pack housing, a lower modularhousing portion coupled to the battery pack housing positioned at asecond end of the battery pack housing. The battery assembly furtherincludes a handle formed as part of the upper modular housing portion,multiple battery cells disposed within the battery pack housing, amating feature including multiple ports electrically connected to themultiple battery cells and structured to supply power from the multiplebattery cells through the ports. The mating feature is also structuredto selectively connect the battery assembly with a receptacle of atleast one of a piece of power equipment and a charging station. Themating feature is located on the first modular housing portion.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a battery chargingsystem. The battery charging system includes a charging station havingmultiple receptacles and multiple battery assemblies. Each of themultiple battery assemblies includes a housing including a handle,multiple battery cells disposed within the housing, and a mating featureintegrally formed with the housing. The mating feature is structured toselectively couple the battery assembly with the receptacle of thecharging station and includes a plurality of ports electricallyconnected to the plurality of battery cells and structured to receivepower from the charging station to charge the plurality of batterycells. The handle includes a movable member structured to selectivelydisengage the battery assembly from the plurality of receptacles of thecharging station.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a battery assembly. Thebattery assembly includes a housing comprising a first portion, a secondportion, and a third portion connecting the first portion to the secondportion, wherein the second portion is located opposite the firstportion. The battery assembly further includes a handle located abovethe first portion, multiple battery cells disposed within the housing, amating feature including multiple ports electrically connected to themultiple battery cells and structured to supply power from the multiplebattery cells through the ports and is structured to selectively connectthe battery assembly with a receptacle of at least one of a powerequipment and a charging station. The mating feature is located on thefirst portion of the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will become more fully understood from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lawn mower, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery assembly for use with varioustypes of indoor and outdoor power equipment, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the battery assembly ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the battery assembly ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an integrated battery system includingmultiple battery assemblies of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a rack charging system includingmultiple battery assemblies of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a bench top charging system includingmultiple battery assemblies of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a battery assembly of FIG. 2 with acharging cord;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of a user interface of a pieceof outdoor power equipment;

FIG. 10 is a front view of the user interface of FIG. 10;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a communication system between a mobiledevice and the battery of FIG. 2, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a light tower, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a backpack blower, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a generator, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a user interface of a mobile device;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a user interface of a mobile device;and

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of various pieces of indoor and outdoorpower equipment using the battery of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before turning to the figures, which illustrate the exemplaryembodiments in detail, it should be understood that the presentapplication is not limited to the details or methodology set forth inthe description or illustrated in the figures. It should also beunderstood that the terminology is for the purpose of description onlyand should not be regarded as limiting.

Referring to FIG. 1, outdoor power equipment, in the form of a lawnmower 10, is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. The lawn mower10 includes a removable and replaceable battery assembly 100 powering anelectric motor (not shown) coupled to a rotary tool, such as the bladein a deck 14 of the lawn mower 10, an auger, a saw, tines, a drill, apump, or other rotary tools. As shown, the lawn mower 10 furtherincludes wheels 16 and a rearward extending handle 18 designed to bepushed by an operator walking behind the lawn mower 10. The batteryassembly 100 described herein also allows electrically powered equipmentto be used indoors. The battery assembly 100 can be used with varioustypes of indoor and outdoor power equipment, as well as with portablejobsite equipment. Outdoor power equipment includes lawn mowers, ridingtractors, snow throwers, pressure washers, tillers, log splitters,zero-turn radius mowers, walk-behind mowers, riding mowers, stand-onmowers, pavement surface preparation devices, industrial vehicles suchas forklifts, utility vehicles, commercial turf equipment such asblowers, vacuums, debris loaders, overseeders, power rakes, aerators,sod cutters, brush mowers, portable generators, etc. Indoor powerequipment includes floor sanders, floor buffers and polishers, vacuums,etc. Portable jobsite equipment includes portable light towers, mobileindustrial heaters, and portable light stands.

Referring to FIG. 2, the battery assembly 100 is shown, according to anexemplary embodiment. The battery assembly 100 is removable andrechargeable. The battery assembly 100 is configured to be inserted(e.g., dropped, lowered, placed) into a receiver integrated with a pieceof equipment and/or a charging station. The battery assembly 100 can beinstalled into a piece of equipment vertically, horizontally, and at anyangle. The battery assembly 100 includes a battery pack 105 andoptionally, one or more modular portions as described below. The batterypack 105 is a Lithium-ion battery. However, other battery types arecontemplated, such as nickel-cadmium (NiCD), lead-acid, nickel-metalhydride (NiMH), lithium polymer, etc. The battery assembly 100 yields avoltage of approximately 48 Volts (V) and 1500 Watt-hours (Wh) ofenergy. It is contemplated that battery assemblies of other sizes mayalso be used. The battery pack 105 includes one or more battery cellspositioned therein. The battery assembly 100 is also hot-swappablemeaning that a drained battery assembly 100 can be exchanged for a newbattery assembly 100 without completely powering down connectedequipment. As such, downtime between battery assembly 100 exchanges iseliminated.

The battery assembly 100 can be removed by an operator from a piece ofequipment without the use of tools and recharged using a chargingstation, as described further herein. In this way, the operator may usea second rechargeable battery having a sufficient charge to powerequipment while allowing the first battery to recharge. In addition, thebattery assembly 100 can be used on various types of equipment includingindoor, outdoor, and portable jobsite equipment. Due to its uniformityacross equipment, the battery assembly 100 can also be used as part of arental system, where rental companies who traditionally rent out piecesof equipment can also rent the battery assembly 100 to be used on suchequipment. An operator can rent a battery assembly 100 to use on varioustypes of equipment the operator may own and/or rent and then return thebattery assembly 100 to be used by other operators on an as-neededbasis.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the battery pack 105 includes an upperportion 150, a lower portion 155, a left side 160, and a right side 165.The battery assembly 100 further includes an upper modular portion 115coupled to the upper portion 150 of the battery pack 105, and lowermodular portions 120, 125 coupled to a lower portion 155 of the batterypack 105 on each of the left and right sides 160, 165. The upper modularportion 115 and lower modular portions 120, 125 are coupled to thebattery pack 105 using fasteners 180 (e.g., bolts, screws). In otherembodiments, the modular portions 115, 120, 125 are coupled to thebattery pack 105 using a snap fit. The lower modular portions 120, 125provide protection to the battery pack 105 and act to absorb or limitthe amount of force the battery pack 105 endures by dropping, etc. Insome embodiments, the battery assembly 100 may not include the uppermodular portion 115 and/or lower modular portions 120, 125 and may bepermanently mounted to a piece of equipment. The upper modular portion115 and lower modular portions 120, 125 are exchangeable andcustomizable such that an operator may chose a different design and/orcolor based on the type or make and model of the equipment with whichthe battery assembly 100 is to be used.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the upper modular portion 115 includes a casing117 and a handle 110 extending therefrom. The casing 117 surrounds theupper portion 150 of the battery pack 105. The casing 117 includes amating feature 140 positioned proximate the right side 165 of thebattery pack 105. The mating feature 140 includes an opening 170 havingone or more ports 175 positioned therein. The ports 175 are configuredto mate with a charging connector (not shown) on a charging station(e.g., charging systems 200, 400 in FIGS. 6-8). The ports 175 areelectrically coupled to the battery cells within the battery pack 105.The mating feature 140 are configured to supply power from the batterycells through the ports 175 and selectively connect the battery assembly100 with a receptacle of at least one of a piece of power equipment anda charging station. The mating feature 140 further includes a lock 143(e.g., latch, clip) configured to couple and decouple (e.g., lock andunlock) the battery assembly 100 to a respective feature on a chargingstation and/or a piece of equipment.

The handle 110 includes an outer surface 111 and an inner surface 113positioned nearer the battery pack 105 than the outer surface 111. Theinner surface 113 includes a movable member 135 configured to beoperable by the operator to unlock the battery assembly 100 from acharging station and/or a piece of equipment. When depressed, themovable member 135 moves inward toward the inner surface 113 and movesthe lock 143 out of engagement with a respective feature on a chargingstation and/or piece of equipment. In this way, when an operator graspsthe handle 110, the operator can, at the same time and with the samehand, easily depress the movable member 135 to disengage the batteryassembly 100 from a piece of equipment or charging station.

Referring to FIG. 3, the battery pack 105 further includes a heat sink145 formed therein proximate the upper portion 150 of the battery pack105. The heat sink 145 acts to regulate the temperature of the batterypack 105 by transferring the heat generated from the battery pack 105 toa fluid medium (e.g., air) where the heat is then dissipated away fromthe battery pack 105. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat sink 145 is a coldplate heat sink, although other forms of heat sinks may be used.

Referring to FIG. 5, multiple battery assemblies 100 can be used in anintegrated battery system 190. An integrated battery system 190 can beused on a piece of equipment that requires more battery power than onebattery assembly 100 provides. The integrated battery system 190includes multiple battery receptacles 191 each having an opening 193.The battery receptacles 191 include partial walls 189 that includeprotrusions 187. The battery pack 105 includes one or more slots 185(e.g., slits, niches) formed proximate the lower portion 155. The slots185 are configured to engage the protrusions 187 (e.g., tabs) on theintegrated battery system 190. The slots 185 and protrusions 187 areconfigured to engage with each other and align a battery pack 105 intoeach of the receptacles 191. A battery assembly 100 is slid into each ofthe battery receptacles 191 (e.g., each slot 185 receiving a protrusion187) and connected via the mating feature 140 and ports 175 to a centralpower cord 197 via intermediate connectors 195 formed in the batteryreceptacles 191. The central power cord 197 may be connected to acharging station.

Referring to FIG. 6, a rack charger system 200 is shown, according toone embodiment. The rack charger system 200 includes a rack 205 and oneor more charging receivers 220 having battery receptacles 225. The oneor more battery assemblies 100 are inserted into the battery receptacles225 to be charged. When inserted, the battery assemblies 100 areelectrically coupled to the charging receivers 220 (e.g., via ports 175shown in FIG. 4) which are electrically coupled to a utility powersource, such as an electrical cord 210 plugged directly into a walloutlet 215. In some embodiments, the charging receivers 220 may beconfigured to work with multiple types of utility power, as required.For example, the charging receivers 220 may be coupled to 120 VACservice, 240 VAC service, or even 480 VAC service to allow for multiplebatteries to be charged. The rack charging system 200 may include powerconverters to transform the utility power to the proper voltage andcurrent levels required to charge the one or more battery assemblies100. The rack charging system 200 may further include one or morecontrollers configured to ensure proper charging of all the batteryassemblies 100 received by the rack charger system 200. When an operatorand/or employee desires to remove one of the battery assemblies 100, thehandle 110 of the battery assembly 100 is grasped, the movable member135 is engaged (e.g., squeezed, pushed in), the lock 143 (FIG. 1) ismoved out of engagement with the battery receptacle 225, and the batteryassembly 100 is removed by sliding the battery assembly 100 out of thereceptacle 225. The battery assemblies 100 may also include visualindicators showing a battery charge level, etc. Using the rack chargersystem 200, the battery assembly 100 will fully charge in approximately1 hour.

Referring to FIG. 7, a bench top charging system 400 is shown, accordingto an exemplary embodiment. The bench top charger system 400 includes areceptacle housing 405 having multiple battery receptacles 425. One ormore battery assemblies 100 are inserted into the battery receptacles425 to be charged. When inserted, the battery assemblies 100 areelectrically coupled to the battery receptacles 425 (e.g., via ports 175shown in FIG. 4), which are electrically coupled to a utility powersource, such as an electrical cord 410 plugged directly into a walloutlet 415. When an operator and/or employee desires to remove one ofthe battery assemblies 100, the handle 110 of the battery assembly 100is grasped, the movable member 135 (FIG. 2) is engaged (e.g., depressed,squeezed, pushed in), the lock 143 (FIG. 2) is moved out of engagementwith the battery receptacle 425, and the battery assembly 100 is removedby sliding the battery assembly 100 out of the receptacle 425. Eachbattery assembly 100 includes a visual indicator or display 420 showingbattery charge level, among other battery health indications. The visualindicator or display 420 may indicate different colors for differentlevels of battery charge. For example, the visual indicator or display420 may use a red color to denote that the battery is not fully chargedand a green color to denote that the battery is fully charged. Using thebench top charger system 400, the battery assembly 100 will fully chargein approximately 1 hour.

In some embodiments, the rack charger system 200 and/or the bench topcharger system 400 use sequential charging while charging multiplebattery assemblies 100. Sequential charging includes charging differentbattery assemblies 100 at different times so that not all batteryassemblies 100 are charged at once potentially resulting in an overloadon the utility service system. The sequential charging may determinewhich battery assemblies 100 need to be charged more than others bymonitoring the charge levels of all connected battery assemblies 100 andsupply charge to those assemblies 100 while switching off power supplyto battery assemblies 100 that may already be fully charged.

Referring to FIG. 8, a portable charger 192 for use with the batteryassembly 100 is shown, according to one embodiment. The portable charger192 is plugged into the ports 175 and into a wall outlet to providecharging to the battery assembly 100. Using the portable charger 192,the battery assembly 100 will fully charge in approximately 4 hours.

In addition to the charging systems described above, the batteryassembly 100 can also be charged while inserted on the equipment or toolon which the battery assembly 100 is used. A user can leave the batteryassembly 100 inserted and plug the equipment or tool into an outlet tocharge the battery assembly 100. In this embodiment, the charging systemis included with the tool or equipment such that no external charger isnecessary.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, a lawn mower 500 and a user interface 520 ofthe lawn mower 500 are shown. The user interface 520 includes a switch525 (e.g., lever, knob, button, etc.). The switch 525 may rotate betweenan off position, where the battery assembly 100 is not electricallyconnected to components of the lawn mower 500, and an on position, wherethe battery assembly 100 is electrically connected to the components. Asshown in FIG. 11, the battery assembly 100 is communicably coupled to amobile device 600. The battery assembly 100 communicates various batterydata and equipment data to the mobile device 600 for display.

Referring to FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the battery assembly 100 isconnected to a network 510. In some embodiments, operators and/oremployees communicate over the network 510 to the battery assembly 100via mobile devices 600, such as smartphones, laptop computers, desktopcomputers, tablet computers, and the like. Accordingly, one or moremobile devices 600 are also connected to the network 510.

In some embodiments, the battery assembly 100 includes a networkinterface. In some arrangements, the network interface includes thehardware and logic necessary to communicate over multiple channels ofdata communication. For example, the network interface may include aWi-Fi interface, a cellular modem, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Bluetoothbeacon, an RFID transceiver, an NFC transceiver, or a combinationthereof. The network interface facilitates data communication to andfrom the battery assembly 100 (and therefore the equipment (e.g., lawnmower 500) on which the battery assembly 100 is used).

Data communication between the battery assembly 100 and the mobiledevice 600 in various combinations may be facilitated by the network510. In some arrangements, the network 510 includes cellulartransceivers. In another arrangement, the network 510 includes theInternet. In yet another arrangement, the network 510 includes a localarea network or a wide area network. The network 510 may be facilitatedby short and/or long range communication technologies includingBluetooth transceivers, Bluetooth beacons, RFID transceivers, NFCtransceivers, Wi-Fi transceivers, cellular transceivers, wired networkconnections, etc. As such, in one embodiment, the communication betweenthe mobile device 600 and the battery assembly 100 can be facilitated byand connected to a cloud-based system via RFID and Wi-Fi connections onthe battery assembly 100. In another embodiment, the communication canbe facilitated by and connected to a cloud-based system via Wi-Fi only.In another embodiment, the communication can be facilitated by andconnected to a cloud-based system via cellular transceivers. In yetanother embodiment, the communication can be facilitated by andconnected to a cloud-based system via Bluetooth and cellulartransceivers. In still another embodiment, the communication can befacilitated by and connected to a cloud-based system and used with aself-vending system with which customers or operators can interact torent the battery assemblies 100. In all such embodiments, thecloud-based system can be made accessible to a third party, such as aconsumer and/or rental company.

The battery assembly 100 may include one or more circuits configured tomonitor the state of the battery assembly 100 or other aspects of theequipment with which the battery assembly 100 is used. A circuit may befurther configured to monitor the state of the battery to predict thenumber of starts capable with the battery. For example, a circuit maymonitor the state of charge of the battery, the average amount of powerexpended to start and run the equipment, and/or other characteristics ofthe equipment (e.g., run state, RPMs, etc.). The average amount of powerexpended to start the equipment and/or characteristics of the equipmentmay be communicated to the circuit through one or more of the terminalscoupling the battery assembly 100 to the receiver. The number of startscapable with the battery assembly 100 may then be shown on a displayintegrated into the battery (e.g., the display 420 shown in FIG. 7) or adisplay provided elsewhere, such as on a control panel or userinterface. The number of starts capable with the battery assembly 100may also be communicated to the mobile device 600 and displayed on auser interface of the mobile device 600. The number of starts capablewith the battery assembly 100 may be calculated based on thecharacteristics of the equipment, for example, a battery having aspecific charge may be able to perform more starts for one type ofoutdoor power equipment (e.g., a pressure washer) than for another typeof outdoor power equipment (e.g., a lawn mower).

A circuit may be further configured to monitor other characteristics ofthe equipment by communicating with sensors and monitoring devices(e.g., fluid level sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors,chronometers, etc.). The circuit may output data related to theinformation received from the sensors and monitoring devices to adisplay, such as the display 420 (FIG. 7) integrated into the batteryassembly 100 or a display shown on a user interface of a mobile device600. The display may therefore communicate to the user of the equipmentvarious operational data related to the equipment and the batteryassembly 100. For example, the circuit may output to the displayinformation such as operational time, battery charge, or batterytemperature. Additionally, the circuit may monitor the temperature ofthe battery assembly 100 via an input from a temperature sensor.Temperature monitoring can be used to alert the user (e.g., via thedisplay 420, user interface of the mobile device 600) if the batterytemperature is too low for normal use of the battery. Using the batteryassembly 100 to power these circuits allows information to be providedto the user (e.g., battery temperature, battery charge level) prior tothe equipment being started so that any issues can be addressed beforeattempting to start the equipment.

Referring to FIG. 12, a mobile device 600 displaying a user interface610 is shown. The user interface 610 displays data received from thebattery assembly 100 remotely. The user interface 610 displays, amongother data, information relating to battery runtime, battery health, andbattery location (e.g., using a Global Positioning System on the batteryassembly 100). The user interface 610 may allow an employee and/oroperator to remotely lock out the battery assembly 100 such that thebattery assembly 100 will not operate to provide power. In this way, thebattery assemblies 100 can be tracked and shut down if a theft isdetermined to likely have occurred. In addition, using remote trackingand operation, an employee of a rental company can lock out the batteryassembly 100 when a rental period expires. The operator of the batteryassembly 100 can then be prompted via an application on their own mobiledevice whether they would like to extend the rental period and can do soremotely. By interacting with an application displayed on an operator'smobile device, the operator can also preemptively extend the rentalperiod, transmitting a notification to the rental company and/oremployee of the rental company.

Referring to FIG. 13, a mobile device 600 displaying another userinterface 620 is shown. The user interface 620 displays battery assemblycharge and health data. An operator or employee of a rental service mayuse the user interface 620 to track the battery charge levels acrossmultiple battery assemblies 100 to determine which of the batteryassemblies 100 may be fully charged and thus, ready to use and/or rentout. In addition, the battery assemblies 100 can be chosen for certainpieces of equipment based on various parameters associated with thebattery assemblies 100, such as State of Health (SoH), State of Charge(SoC), the amount of charge on the battery, etc. For example, a piece ofequipment that requires less battery charge may be able to use a batteryassembly 100 with less charge than a piece of equipment that requires afully charged battery for practical use. A rental company may track thecharge of the battery assemblies 100 to determine whether to rent out aparticular battery assembly 100 to a customer based on which equipmentthe operator is desiring to use the battery assembly 100. The userinterface 620 may also display other health characteristics, such aswhich battery assemblies 100 may be failing to charge properly.

In some embodiments, a user can reserve a battery assembly 100 prior toarriving at a rental company using their mobile device. Upon arriving atthe rental company, the user is directed to the proper battery assembly100 (e.g., a particular battery assembly 100) by a display on theirmobile device. For example, the mobile device may display a map of therental company store and indicate where the battery assembly 100 islocated within the store. The mobile device may additionally oralternatively display text indicating which part of the store thebattery assembly 100 is located. Once locating the proper batteryassembly 100, the user can use their mobile device (e.g., via NFC,Bluetooth, etc.) to communicate with the battery assembly 100 to performa check out procedure. By using the mobile device to check out thebattery assembly 100, mobile device information (e.g., unique codetransmitted by the mobile device, etc.) is communicated to the batteryassembly 100 and the user is authenticated via their mobile device. Upuntil the point where the user is authenticated and checks out thebattery assembly 100, the battery assembly 100 can remain locked.

Referring to FIG. 14, the battery assembly 100 is shown in use on alight tower 700. The battery assembly 100 may be positioned in a base ofthe light tower 700. Accordingly, the light tower 700 may be easilytransportable for use at construction sites, etc. Referring to FIG. 15,the battery assembly 100 is shown in use on a backpack blower 800. Thebattery assembly 100 is positioned within the backpack portion of thebackpack blower 800 such that an operator carries the battery assembly100 on his or her back while using the blower 800. Accordingly, theblower 800 is easily transportable. Referring to FIG. 16, three batteryassemblies 100 are shown in use with a generator 900. As such, thebattery assemblies 100 can be used to power a generator 900 and anoperator can plug equipment and/or other electrical devices into thegenerator 900 to power such equipment remote from a power grid.

Referring to FIG. 17, various types of equipment that can use one ormore battery assemblies 100 are shown. As shown, the battery assembly100 can be used with various types of indoor and outdoor powerequipment, as well as with portable jobsite equipment. Examples of suchequipment are floor sanders, floor buffers and polishers, cementrollers, power washers, vacuums, overseeders, sweepers, sod cutters,brush mowers, portable generators, heaters, etc.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularimplementations. Certain features described in this specification in thecontext of separate implementations can also be implemented incombination in a single implementation. Conversely, various featuresdescribed in the context of a single implementation can also beimplemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitablesub combination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

It should be understood that while the use of words such as desirable orsuitable utilized in the description above indicate that the feature sodescribed may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary andembodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope ofthe invention, the scope being defined by the claims that follow. Inreading the claims, it is intended that when words such as “a,” “an,” or“at least one” are used there is no intention to limit the claim to onlyone item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim.

It should be noted that certain passages of this disclosure canreference terms such as “first” and “second” in connection with side andend, etc., for purposes of identifying or differentiating one fromanother or from others. These terms are not intended to merely relateentities (e.g., a first side and a second side) temporally or accordingto a sequence, although in some cases, these entities can include such arelationship. Nor do these terms limit the number of possible entities(e.g., sides or ends) that can operate within a system or environment.

The terms “coupled” and “connected” and the like as used herein mean thejoining of two components directly or indirectly to one another. Suchjoining may be stationary (e.g., permanent) or moveable (e.g., removableor releasable). Such joining may be achieved with the two components orthe two components and any additional intermediate components beingintegrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with thetwo components or the two components and any additional intermediatecomponents being attached to one another.

As used herein, the term “circuit” may include hardware structured toexecute the functions described herein. In some embodiments, eachrespective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuringthe hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit maybe embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but notlimited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheraldevices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In someembodiments, a circuit may take the form of one or more analog circuits,electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits,system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunication circuits,hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the“circuit” may include any type of component for accomplishing orfacilitating achievement of the operations described herein. Forexample, a circuit as described herein may include one or moretransistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR,etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors,diodes, wiring, and so on).

The “circuit” may also include one or more processors communicablycoupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the oneor more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or mayexecute instructions otherwise accessible to the one or more processors.In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be embodied invarious ways. The one or more processors may be constructed in a mannersufficient to perform at least the operations described herein. In someembodiments, the one or more processors may be shared by multiplecircuits (e.g., circuit A and circuit B may comprise or otherwise sharethe same processor which, in some example embodiments, may executeinstructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas ofmemory). Alternatively, or additionally, the one or more processors maybe structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operationsindependent of one or more co-processors. In other example embodiments,two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent,parallel, pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. Eachprocessor may be implemented as one or more general-purpose processors,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other suitableelectronic data processing components structured to execute instructionsprovided by memory. The one or more processors may take the form of asingle core processor, multi-core processor (e.g., a dual coreprocessor, triple core processor, quad core processor, etc.),microprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more processors maybe external to the apparatus, for example the one or more processors maybe a remote processor (e.g., a cloud based processor). Alternatively, oradditionally, the one or more processors may be internal and/or local tothe apparatus. In this regard, a given circuit or components thereof maybe disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, a local computingsystem, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as part of a remote server such as acloud based server). To that end, a “circuit” as described herein mayinclude components that are distributed across one or more locations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery assembly comprising: a battery packhaving a battery pack housing; an upper modular housing portion coupledto the battery pack housing positioned at a first end of the batterypack housing; a lower modular housing portion coupled to the batterypack housing positioned at a second end of the battery pack housing; ahandle formed as part of the upper modular housing portion; a pluralityof battery cells disposed within the battery pack housing; a matingfeature comprising a plurality of ports electrically connected to theplurality of battery cells and structured to supply power from theplurality of battery cells through the ports, the mating featurestructured to selectively connect the battery assembly with a receptacleof at least one of a piece of power equipment and a charging station;wherein the mating feature is located on the first modular housingportion.
 2. The battery assembly of claim 1, further comprising one ormore slots positioned on the battery pack housing and structured toreceive one of a plurality of protrusions of the receptacle of at leastone of the piece of power equipment and the charging station.
 3. Thebattery assembly of claim 1, wherein the handle comprises a movablemember structured to releasably couple the battery assembly to at leastone of the piece of power equipment and the charging station when themovable member is depressed.
 4. The battery assembly of claim 3, whereinthe movable member is positioned on an inner surface of the handle. 5.The battery assembly of claim 1, wherein the battery assembly comprisesa heat sink positioned at least partially within the battery packhousing and structured to dissipate heat from the battery assembly. 6.The battery assembly of claim 1, wherein the mating feature comprises aslot structured to interface with a protrusion on the charging stationto releasably couple the battery assembly to the charging station. 7.The battery assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more circuitsstructured to monitor a state of the battery assembly and output datarelated to the state of the battery to at least one of a displayintegrated with the battery assembly and a mobile device.
 8. The batteryassembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more circuits structuredto monitor characteristics of a piece of equipment to which the batteryassembly is coupled and output data related to the state of the piece ofequipment to at least one of a display integrated with the batteryassembly and a mobile device.
 9. A battery charging system comprising: acharging station comprising a plurality of receptacles; a plurality ofbattery assemblies wherein each of the plurality of battery assembliescomprises: a housing comprising a handle; a plurality of battery cellsdisposed within the housing; a mating feature integrally formed with thehousing, wherein the mating feature is structured to selectively couplethe battery assembly with the receptacle of the charging station andcomprises a plurality of ports electrically connected to the pluralityof battery cells and structured to receive power from the chargingstation to charge the plurality of battery cells; wherein the handlecomprises a movable member structured to selectively disengage thebattery assembly from the plurality of receptacles of the chargingstation.
 10. The battery charging system of claim 9, wherein each of theplurality of battery assemblies further comprises: a lower housingmodular portion; and an upper housing modular portion; wherein a slot isformed on the housing and structured to receive one of a plurality ofprotrusions of the receptacles.
 11. The battery charging system of claim9, wherein the movable member is positioned on an inner surface of thehandle.
 12. The battery charging system of claim 9, wherein the chargingstation is structured to sequentially charge the plurality of batteryassemblies and is structured to determine one or more of the pluralityof battery assemblies that have less charge than other batteryassemblies and charge the one or more of the plurality of batteryassemblies and switch off power supply to the other battery assemblies.13. The battery charging system of claim 9, wherein each of theplurality of battery assemblies further comprises one or more circuitsstructured to monitor a state of the battery assembly and output datarelated to the state of the battery to a display integrated with thebattery assembly.
 14. The battery charging system of claim 9, furthercomprising a plurality of indicator lights configured to indicate astatus of each of the plurality of battery assemblies when the pluralityof battery assemblies are electrically coupled to the plurality ofreceptacles.
 15. A battery assembly comprising: a housing comprising afirst portion, a second portion, and a third portion connecting thefirst portion to the second portion, wherein the second portion islocated opposite the first portion; a handle located above the firstportion; a plurality of battery cells disposed within the housing; amating feature comprising a plurality of ports electrically connected tothe plurality of battery cells and configured to supply power from theplurality of battery cells through the ports and is configured toselectively connect the battery assembly with a receptacle of at leastone of a power equipment and a charging station; wherein the matingfeature is located on the first portion of the housing.
 16. The batteryassembly of claim 15, further comprising one or more circuits structuredto monitor a state of the battery assembly and output data related tothe state of the battery assembly to at least one of a displayintegrated with the battery assembly and a mobile device.
 17. Thebattery assembly of claim 15, further comprising one or more circuitsstructured to monitor characteristics of a piece of equipment to whichthe battery assembly is coupled and output data related to the state ofthe piece of equipment to at least one of a display integrated with thebattery assembly and a mobile device.
 18. The battery assembly of claim15, further comprising a movable member positioned on an inner surfaceof the handle and structured to releasably couple the battery assemblyto one of a piece of equipment and a charging station.
 19. The batteryassembly of claim 15, wherein the battery assembly comprises a heat sinkpositioned at least partially within the housing and configured todissipate heat from the battery assembly.
 20. The battery assembly ofclaim 15, wherein the mating feature comprises a slot configured tointerface with a protrusion on the charging station to releasably couplethe charging station and the mating feature of the battery assembly.